


Songs In the Libary

by daydreamy



Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Father-Daughter Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-09-07
Updated: 2011-09-07
Packaged: 2017-10-23 12:24:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,067
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/250273
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/daydreamy/pseuds/daydreamy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Doctor wants to go back to the Library, he's not the only one.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Songs In the Libary

**Author's Note:**

> This fic, is related to another, longer larger work of mine (not up yet) and is now AU because I started in before LKH. In this stand-alone piece, the Doctor meets mysterious people on the Shores of Lake Silencio and in the Library.

 

 

The doctor needed to pay a visit to the Library.

 

He’d put off going for far too long, he knew that. And, yes there were swarms of vashta nerada to contend with, but really the thought of facing her scared him more. But he had questions for her, which she probably wouldn’t answer. Mostly he needed to see a fully realized River. He didn’t want to risk bumping into a younger version of her, he just couldn’t take that right now. Not after the last time.

 

The last time he’d run into some version of River who was so strange he wasn’t even sure how she could exist, but it had to have been her. He’d gone to explore Lake Silencio, careful to arrive millennia after his death. There on the edge of the lake was a young woman, so young she was practically still a teenager. He wouldn’t have given her another thought except that she was bent over in pain or anguish, the sounds of her sobs echoing eerily throughout the deserted, red canyons. He couldn’t bear the sound so he’d walked over to her, his footfalls cushioned in the strange white sand of the lake shore.

 

She was dressed all in black, down to her chipped fingernail polish. Even her hair was dyed an inky hue, although he could see a hint of bright red hair growing out at the nape of her neck when the wind whipped her hair around. And she had a tattoo there _in Gallifreyan_ an ancient talisman of his own clan, a symbol of protection and belonging.

 

He reached out with his mind and immediately felt the swell of time energy around this girl, _River._  He’d been so intent on watching her he stepped in the remains of a campfire, dried sticks snapping loudly as he stumbled forward. The girl spun on the spot, empty hands out in front of her, time energy crackling between her fingers, ready to ward off an attack.

 

“It’s OK, it’s just me.” He said putting up his hands in a gesture of surrender.

 

“I can see that,” she said without emotion, lowering her hands and wiping her tear-slicked cheeks with the heels of her hands. She seemed uninterested in killing him but still he approached her warily.

 

“What’s wrong?” She met his eyes and inhaled deeply through her nose, a gesture he’d seen a thousand times among Timelords, she was sensing him. A well trained Timelord could tell a lot from smell alone. They’d taught her very thoroughly hadn’t they? He saw a flash of recognition in her eyes, which looked strangely old in her angular adolescent face.

 

“You shouldn’t be here.”

 

“Probably not, but as I’m here all the same, do you need help?”

 

“I think you’ve done enough already.” She looked out over the lake again and sighed deeply. “How did you manage to do it? I don’t think I can. I just can’t take it, it hurts so much.” Tears had started to run down her face again.

 

“What hurts?” He asked putting a hand on her shoulder. “It’s OK, you can tell me.”

 

“Watching them get older, seeing their short lives flash so brightly and then fade. And I just keep on.” She took a big gulp of air as another sob racked her body. He folded her into his arms, he knew this ache so very well. She turned her face up to his and smiled sadly.

 

“Still can’t stand to see children crying, right.” She pushed back and straightened his bowtie fondly. “But, I’m hardly a child and you really, really need to go. I’m going to be in huge trouble as it is for talking to you.”

 

He was studying her now, she was very wrong. There was nothing of his River here, she held herself differently – there was a little slump to her stance that had never been there before, she wasn’t being coy or aloof, she wasn’t trying to kill him, and she wasn’t even remotely flirting with him. That had never happened. Alternate timeline? Could that even be?

 

“Yes, I suppose I’d better be going.”

 

He’d trudged up the beach, feeling her eyes on him the whole way. When he got to the door of his tardis he’d turned around to see that she suddenly was flanked on either side by identical young men, tall with light blonde hair, they were so alike they could have been twins, or duplicates. He was about to go back, make sure she was ok, that they didn’t mean her any harm. But one of the young men placed an arm protectively over her shoulder and gave her a little squeeze, kissing her gently on the forehead. The gesture spoke of a long familiarity, but not like that of a lover – _friends?_ _Companions_? The other young man fidgeted with a device on his wrist, the three of them waved goodbye and vanished into thin air.

 

 

After that little adventure he’d wanted to see his River. Maybe she could help him understand what was happening. If there were multiple timelines playing out he needed to know and no one would know more about their story than the memory of River who lived at the heart of the Library. He decided to land the tardis directly in the core of the planet, next to the mainframe. There would likely be fewer vashda nerada down there and he could do a sweep before heading out of the tardis, it should be safe enough.

 

When he opened the doors, he had to blink against the blinding light. Someone had set up an array of solar flares in a wide circle around the main computer console. It took his eyes a few seconds to adjust enough to be able to focus against the glare. Someone was there. River, the strange, all-in-black River from the lake, sitting cross legged in the middle of the circle. She was watching him with a look of absolute amusement on her face.

 

“Well, look what the cat dragged in.” She was pretty when she wasn’t crying. Although today she was wearing a scary amount of black-eyeliner and her face looked even thinner, sharper than it had on the beach. She stood up and walked over to him, teetering slightly on heels that were far too high. He could see her hip bones pushing against the fabric of her black jeans.

 

“What are you doing here?” He put his hands in his pockets and felt for his sonic, he had a terrible fear that River was here to delete herself. How had she known to come here?

 

“Standing guard. You?” Her tone was open and relaxed but she still had that odd slumped posture, like the world was pressing down on her from above.

 

“River, I don’t know how you came to be here, but please, please tell me you haven’t harmed the date core. There are living minds in there.” At the mention of the name River, the girl threw back her head and laughed and finally she did sound a little like herself – it was River’s laugh through and through.

 

“Oh god no, I’m not River. You thought _I_ was River?  Oh that’s just wrong. Let’s nip that idea in the bud right now before this gets seriously weird.”

 

“But you’re a Time Lord.” He pulled his sonic screwdriver out of his pocket and gave her a summary scan.

 

“I guess it’s pretty weird already, then, huh?” She said this last in Gallifreyan with an impish grin.

 

Whoever this was, she seemed to know who River was, and she was standing between him and the mainframe. She didn’t seem to be armed, but that hardly mattered. If he was dealing with some previously unknown time lord -she was a serious threat.

 

“Is River still in there, is she OK?” His voice caught in his through betraying his emotions, but the thought of losing her again was terrifying.

 

Surprisingly, the girl softened at this and gave him a kind look, completely out of keeping with the angel-of-death getup she was wearing. She reached out to lay a hand on his shoulder and was about to speak when with a wavering noise another girl appeared in the bright circle of light.

 

His new acquaintance froze in place and they stood together like statues under the withering glare of the new arrival. The two girls would have been identical, except that this new one had blazing red hair pulled back from her face in a sensible pony-tail. Her outfit was conservative and practical, down to her scuffed brown boots. Where little miss goth was skinny to the point of indecency, this girl was toned and muscular. The Doctor was thinking that this was clearly a person with whom he could have a reasonable conversation, when she drew a gun and pointed it at his chest.

 

“Get back Anastasia.” She demanded. _Anastasia_ , he thought, Good. It was helpful to have something to call her, because strange, goth, angel-of-death girl was a bit cumbersome. Anastasia didn’t budge.

 

“Look Amelia,” she said casually, as if introducing them at a cocktail party, “It’s the Doctor. He just sort of turned up.”

 

“And you thought you’d just have a friendly chat?” The new arrival, Amelia, looked at Anastasia with a look of disgust. “I swear Anastasia, your death wish is getting tedious.”

 

“Is this your sister?” The Doctor asked Anastasia conversationally, trying to ignore the gun.

 

“Twin, actually. Such a nightmare, don’t get me started.” Anastasia rolled her eyes in the universal teen gesture of infinite frustration.

 

“Do not engage with him.” Amelia shouted angrily. “Look, I know you’re upset, I know you’ve lost somebody but this is not fair. You are playing with all of our lives.”

 

Anastasia stepped between the Doctor and her sister, who immediately lowered the gun. “I’d be doing us a favor,” Anastasia said bitterly. The Doctor saw a long complicated look pass between them.

 

Amelia spoke very quietly. “That’s a horrible thing to say and you don’t really mean that.” She seemed to be calling her sister’s bluff. Anastasia exhaled in defeat. “Fine, I’m sorry but look at him, he’s too far gone anyway. He was practically ready to tackle me to save a ghost of a memory of his dead wife. I don’t think our existence is in peril.”

 

“My…wife,” sputtered the Doctor. “I, I don’t think…what is going on here.” He stepped between them.

 

Both of the girls ignored him and continued their spat. “Oh yes clearly he’s too far gone, they’re not even married,” blurted out Amelia. “You are so reckless. If you get me extinguished from existence I’ll kill you.”

 

Anastatsia, puffed out her cheeks and exhaled haughtily. “What do you want me to do?”

 

Amelia looked at the Doctor for the first time and seemed to consider him, breathing in deeply. She closed her eyes for a long moment and when she opened them again she seemed calmer and resolved.

 

“I want you to go in there and stop the others coming through. Give me five minutes, OK.” Anastasia walked obediently over to the main console and flipped a few switches. She dematerialized in haze of swirling light, giving the Doctor a sad sort of wave.

 

The girl called Amelia, holstered her gun and held up her empty hands. “OK, I’m sorry if I overreacted, but I really need you to go.”

 

The Doctor had zero intention of going anywhere, especially as long as River might be in danger. “Your sister’s a timelord, I’m sorry but I don’t meet too many so I’m understandably invested now in knowing more about her. Besides, you are still standing between me and this data-core, and as your sister pointed out my wife’s in there.” He managed to say the word wife like he meant it, then crossed his arms and stood his ground.

 

“A timelord?” said Amelia derisively. “What gave you that idea?”

 

“Well she could speak Gallifreyan, for a start.”

 

“So can I,” she said in the perfect intonations of his mother-tongue, “we both studied it extensively at University. I have to apologize for my sister; I think she may have been trying to mess with your head. You see, we both studied ancient Gallifreyan culture under Professor Song and I think she may have gotten just a little bit obsessed.” While she was speaking she was moving slowly over to the open doors of his tardis, he followed her.

 

Now she ran a hand casually down the tardis’s side. “I have to admit, it’s really even got me a bit starstruck to meet you face to face.” She shot him a winning smile. _Appealing to my pride_ , he thought.

 

“So what are you doing here?”

 

“Visiting our old professor, of course. There’s a group of us, but I’ve sent Anastasia to stop them coming through to give you time to leave.”

 

She had backed him into the tardis entryway, she kept moving forward so he kept inching backwards. He couldn’t risk her darting inside and she seemed to be looking over his shoulder into the tardis control room quite a bit. He caught a moment of undisguised longing on her face, before her careful mask snapped back into place.

 

“Why are you so worried about me killing your sister, you said she had a death wish.”

 

“She does, she’s not usually this crazy, she’s just upset. And, I know you wouldn’t kill her or anyone, but a lot of people on the planet I come from are only alive because of something you will do someday, you and Professor song, if we say something that takes you off your path – poof there we go.”

 

Her face had shifted while she spoke, that last part, at least, she absolutely believed.

 

“So you see, it really  won’t do for the others to see you, and Professor Song is just fine and you can come back in ten minutes once we’ve all cleared out, can’t you.”

 

“I think I’d like to meet them.”  He said stubbornly. If she wanted him gone, then he wanted to stay.

 

A flash of frustration crossed her face, transforming her for a second into the very image of Amelia Pond, but then the calm façade was back and she was smiling and cajoling.

 

“But we’re from your future and we’ve all studied you, we know way too much about what happens to you. Isn’t that something to be avoided? Any one of them could slip up and say something and then we’d be toeing the edge of creating a paradox. The slipstream dynamics are already starting to get fuzzy in here.”

 

“Ha, gatcha!” He exclaimed pushing past her towards the mainframe. “Slipstream dynamics, indeed.” She turned and hurried after him looking a little panicked. “And, don’t even try telling me you learned that at University. I’m nine hundred and eleven, what are you? Barely 100, I’d wager – did you seriously think you could trick me.”

 

She reached for her gun only to find him waving it gaily in the air. “Nope, I don’t think so.” He pitched it deep into the shadows beyond their light barricade. “So, you won’t be shooting me unless you want to brave the vashta nerada and you can’t trick me with clever lies, I invented clever lies, so how about the truth, little Timelord.”

 

She sighed and dropped her wheedling tone, “Never, could lie to you anyway. What gave me away?”

 

“The slipstreams are getting fuzzy in here and it would take a timelord to know it, plus your sister tried to zap me last week with latent time energy, which by the way is incredibly dangerous.”

 

“Fine!” she exclaimed stomping over to him and grabbing up his hand in one quick motion as she flipped a switch on the control panel with her free hand. They materialized in a dizzying swirl of light, on a great green lawn under a perfectly blue sky. “Welcome to Hades…well that’s what we call it at least. Unfortunately there’s no River Styx to wash all this out of that clever head of yours, so if I cease to exist in the next few minutes you can thank you own stubborn curiosity for my demise.”

 

“We’re in the main frame.”

 

“Yep, there’s that genius intellect at work.” She still had him by the hand and was pulling him across the green lawn towards a lake. “They’re probably all down here.”

 

The first thing he saw was River, his River, walking along the lakeshore in a white dress that rippled a little on the breeze. Her springy hair glowed like a halo in the sunshine and he could hear her laughing. When she raised her head and saw him coming towards her face was illuminated by her smile. And, still he heard her laughter on the air. The girl next to her took a step forward into his view. Anastasia, cheerful as he’d never seen her, was laughing River’s own deep alto laugh.

 

“Amelia Song! What have you done?” The Doctor looked towards the shout to see three figures running towards them. Two were the identical blonde men he’d seen that day on the lake with Anastasia. The third was an open-faced boy who looked about fifteen; he had wild chestnut curls that bobbed as he ran.

 

They all clustered to a stop in a loose circle. The Doctor and Amelia, Anastasia and River, the two men and the boy all stood facing each other. The Doctor felt his head starting to reel, even in this digitized reality he could sense their power, he could smell that particular smell, like burning cinnamon, of time energies. Timelords, they were all timelords.

 

“River, hello. Umm, what’s going…” Before he could finish his sentence, a high shriek split through the air and a small form barreled into him. Small, strong arms wrapped around his waist.

 

“Daddy, Daddy, Daddy” said the child, beaming up at him. She looked about six and her eyes were exactly his own, well, they were like the ones he had right now. Amazing. He picked her up and she flung her arms around his neck. “Oh Daddy, I missed you so much.”

 

River was at his side then, wrapping her arms around him. She kissed him on his cheek

 

“Hello sweetie, let me introduce you to our family.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


End file.
